Issue Brief | October 2018

The Growth of Synthetic Opioids in the South

The drug epidemic, driven in large part by the ongoing opioid
crisis, continues to ravage tens of thousands of families and
communities across the United States. The latest provisional
data
from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, released in September 2018, estimated that more than
71,500 drug overdose deaths occurred nationally between
January 2017–January 2018, an increase of 6.6 percent during
the same period the previous year, and 31.4 percent higher
compared to January 2015– January 2016.1
In the Southern
region, drug overdoses were responsible for more than 24,000
deaths in 2017, approximately one-third of the national total.

This SLC Issue Brief reviews the rise of dangerous synthetic
opioids, primarily fentanyl, and their evolving role within the
broader opioid crisis afflicting the United States. According
to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), the popularity
of fentanyl and related synthetic opioids will remain unchallenged
for the next several years, making it crucial for state
and local leaders to understand the extent of the crisis and
identify potential solutions for its mitigation.

The Southern Legislative Conference (SLC) of The Council of State Governments was established in 1947 and comprises presiding officers and key legislators from 15 Southern states. The SLC is a non-partisan organization located in Atlanta, Georgia.